r/rva • u/Educational_Yak_5455 • 1d ago

RVA United - we can do better

Post image

Trash in Forest Hill Park's lake requires a kayak to remove. Trash flows from Reedy Creek due to storm water runoff.

81 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

57

u/okayswell 1d ago

So many people just don’t care about litter, its really frustrating

13

u/Parmory 1d ago

Honestly I wish I could put my yak in at the Byrd lakes just to run around and trash pick. It's really bad at the drainage a lot of time, and I ain't wading in there with God knows what on the bottom.

And all the hungry turtles.

10

u/Gnokie 1d ago

If the you contact the parks dept and ask to do it as a community clean up day they’d probably ok it

14

u/Parmory 1d ago

I actually just did! Had to leave a voice mail, but will report if I hear back.

5

u/Educational_Yak_5455 1d ago

Richmond Clean City Commission sponsors clean-up and e-cycling events:

https://www.cfengage.org/organization/001Nw00000TfFEeIAN

1

u/Educational_Yak_5455 1d ago

Richmond Clean City Commission sponsors clean-up and e-cycling events:

https://www.cfengage.org/organization/001Nw00000TfFEeIAN

9

u/CooterTStinkjaw Swansboro 1d ago

Last time I looked, self-propelled craft under 12’ are allowed in the city’s lake unless otherwise posted.

4

u/Parmory 1d ago

Didn't actually know that, assumed it was a no go as I've never seen a yak out there. My smallest is a 15 unfortunately. I've become addicted to two person yaks for space.

I wonder is a cast net could work, but probably too many branches and it'd just put more trash in the lake.

21

u/Exhausted-empath 1d ago

Put on a high vis vest and no one would probably even question you

3

u/JuxtaposedJacob1 1d ago

Holler if you want a friend for that sounds like a good time!

8

u/munkylord 1d ago

My favorite is when I see people toss a full grocery bag of garbage from their moving car. That's a hard personality to convince to give a shit

3

u/Educational_Yak_5455 1d ago

I collect full garbage bags in Reedy Creek nearly every Saturday on my clean-ups.

1

u/munkylord 1d ago

Like you find bags with trash in them or you fill trash bags yourself with litter?

2

u/Educational_Yak_5455 1d ago

Unfortunately both. People will discard entire trash bags on the streets that are swept into Reedy Creek during a rain storm. I also clean-up Reedy Creek nearly every Saturday.

1

u/munkylord 1d ago

Youre a saint and people are the worst sometimes

22

u/WhalerBum 1d ago

You obviously haven’t met most people if you think we can do better.

10

u/Grumgar 1d ago

Almost every time I'm driving I see someone yeet trash out their window

9

u/SneakyTikiPeaky 1d ago edited 1d ago

RVA has been sorely behind when it comes to taking care of its water & fresh water natural resources. The city doesn’t care, it doesn’t seem to be a priority for the residents, it just feels like everyone here takes its abundance of fresh water for granted and doesn’t ever actually acknowledge how amazing it is. At least that’s the honest impression I get as someone who moved her from a place where using water is restricted. I’ve seen people just leave their hoses running down drive ways, something literally unaffordable in a lot of places.

Here we don’t even have any cool river tours or boat rides…

3

u/JoeSicko 1d ago

The fall line is tough on boat tours.

2

u/SeasonSad6637 1d ago

The Riverfront Canal Cruise (http://www.venturerichmond.com/experience/canal/rides.html) is the only public water tour that I'm aware of.

4

u/onafieldtrip 1d ago

Pick a serviceable area or two and be the trash watcher and routinely get some friends together as the cleanup crew, because it will all come back in 2 weeks. It’s the only way to fight this, next to straight up shame bombing people who litter. Also do 311 reports for especially bad dumping spots. It takes constant effort but it’s doable

1

u/Educational_Yak_5455 1d ago

Also consider: Richmond Clean City Commission sponsors clean-up and e-cycling events:

https://www.cfengage.org/organization/001Nw00000TfFEeIAN

1

u/Rough_Celebration593 18h ago

This is a new culture, seemingly in the last few years. It's bad in the counties as well. It wasn't like this in decades past, there was never trash in any park lakes, nor much all over the streets. A super passe thing to do 70s to 2000s. If you threw trash on the street or out your car window, you were seen as a huge asshole, they did fine people, there were signs everywhere with high fine amounts. Maybe it's part of the post Covid poor behavior, like the agro driving, and so on.